Rattlers & Snappers: Reptiles, Amphibians, and Outlaws

By Vance Dunbar

Rattlers & Snappers is a must-have book for anyone interested in reptiles and amphibians, but its more than that. No other book contains such an eclectic mix of natural history, husbandry, harvest, taxidermy, and tales.

This book discusses the life history of fascinating animals such as rattlesnakes, snapping turtles, and hellbenders. It teaches you how to handle and keep snakes and how to raise rats, mice, and bugs. It presents the firsthand accounts of noted naturalists and legendary wardens along with tales of outlaws and reptile poachers. It also offers techniques on catching and cooking turtles and on preserving the dead.

This book was written for the Conservation Officers of Pennsylvania Association (COPA). All royalties from the sale of this book are used to support youth environmental education programs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 20, 2007
• ISBN: 9781467090308

Book preview

© 2007 Vance Dunbar. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 7/13/2007

ISBN: 978-1-4670-9025-4 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4343-0916-7 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007904456

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

Contents

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PREFACE

PART I – SNAKES

Chapter I

1. History and Myths

2. On Being a Snake and Getting Around—Locomotion and Senses

3. Feeding

4. Reproduction

5. Sexing and Measuring

6. When, Where, and How to Find Snakes

7. Threats

8. Defenses

9. Is it Venomous?

10. So You Were Bitten—Now What?

11. Northern Copperheads

12. Eastern Hognose Snakes

13. Timber Rattlesnakes

Chapter II

1. Handling

2. Captive Care

3. Enclosures

4. Habitat

5. Cleaning

6. Climate Control

7. Sustenance

8. Problem Feeders

9. Bugs and Wild-Caught Prey

Chapter III

1. Pros and Cons

2. Overview

3. Social Structure and Psychology

4. Mating and Gestation

5. Nursing and Young

6. Starter Colony

7. Rat House

8. Enclosures

9. Bedding

10. Feeding and Watering

11. Cleaning

12. Nesting Boxes

13. Harvest

PART II –

Snake Tales and Tidbits

Ridge Runners and Flatlanders

Chapter i

CHAPTER II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

PART III –

WARDENS

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

PART IV – TURTLES

Chapter I

1. Overview

2. The Shell

3. Gender Determination

4. Searching For and Finding Turtles

Chapter II

1. Where They Live and What They Eat

2. Reproduction

3. Defenses and Handling Techniques

Chapter III

The Accomplice

Reflections

Chapter IV

1. Setlines

2. Jugging

3. Live Traps

4. Noodling

5. Polling

6. You’ve Caught One—Now What?

PART V – AMPHIBIANS

Chapter I

1. Overview

2. Predator/Prey

3. Bio-indicators

4. Global and Local Threats

Chapter II

1. Overview

2. Breathing

3. Vision

4. Smell and Taste

5. Lateral Lines

6. Capturing Prey

7. Defensive Mechanisms

8. Hydroregulation, Thermoregulation, and Hibernation

9. Home Range

10. Courting and Reproduction

11. Eggs and Young

12. Red-Spotted Newt

13. Eastern Hellbender, the Allegheny Alligator

Chapter III

1. Overview

2. Fun Facts

3. Senses

4. Defensive Mechanisms

5. Courting and Reproduction

6. Bullfrogs

7. American Toads

8. The Black Death

Chapter IV

PART VI –

PRESERVING THE DEAD

Chapter I

Chapter II

1. Whole Specimens

2. Skins

3. Turtle Shells

4. Skulls

5. Maceration

Chapter III

1. Starter Colony

2. Habitat and Care

3. Feeding the Bugs

4. Sealing the Deal

Bibliography

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the conservation officers of Pennsylvania–the thin green line responsible for keeping Pennsylvania wild.

And in memory of Norm Erickson.

He was a warden’s warden

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www.pawco.org

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the following people for their contributions: Cover Art—Jim Carroll; Narratives—Norm Erickson, Ralph Fye, Stan Hastings, Bill Allen, Steve Harwig, Steve Leitkam, John Sayers, and John Wood; Photographs—Bill Allen, Dave Kaneski, Pete McClennen, Tom Nunamacher, Bob Petrocelli, and John Sayers; Recipes - Winnie McClennen and Greg Levish Illustrations—Evelyn Dunbar and Shana Davis; Custom Innovations—Jeff Colwell and Ben Dean; Copyediting—I owe a special thanks to Denes Finnegan for her patience and dedication. I bear the burden for any mistakes.

PREFACE

You either get it or you don’t

I want to be up-front with you. I’m a conservationist, not a writer. I deal more with people and animals than with words. I’m not quite like a monkey banging a keyboard with a stone, but I’m not far from it either. In spite of my shortcomings, I think the book turned out to be a good read. I hope you agree.

For the past decade I’ve dabbled in snakes–observing, catching, handling, housing, feeding, and presenting them to the public in educational programs. I learned to do these things from mentors, from information gleaned from various literature, and from trial and error. Most snakes are pretty easy to care for, and there are plenty of guides available for information. I specialize in venomous snakes, or hots, as they’re called in the pet trade. Hots require skills that are hard to come by. Raising the rats and mice to feed them requires unique skills as well. In this book I teach you how.

One of my favorite pastimes is turtling. I like being in the swamp as much as the mountains. I enjoy watching, catching, and, sometimes, eating turtles. I am a conservationist, not a butcher, so I’m discriminating in how and what I catch and kill. I waste nothing. For this reason, I learned how to preserve shells, skulls, and skins for future use. I’ll teach you.

Reptiles and amphibians are collectively known as herptiles or herps for short. Their formal study is called herpetology. Biologists who specialize in herpetology are called herpetologists. Amateur observers and collectors are called herpetoculturists or herpers. I consider myself among the latter. Herpers generally find reptiles and amphibians to be equally fascinating, so I’ve added a chapter on amphibians in this edition.

Herpers are an eccentric bunch. I’ve met many–on both sides of the law. I collected many of their stories and presented them with my own. Some have since passed away, a few went to jail, and at least one just disappeared.

Enjoy!

Vance Dunbar

PART I – SNAKES

The more I know about people,

the more I like snakes.

This chapter paints snakes with a broad brush. I defer the finer details to others. It’s important to know something about an animal in order to respect and appreciate it. Knowledge is just the start; it’s what you do with that knowledge that really matters. I hope that if you learn anything from this book you’ll act on it or pass it along.

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.

—Yeats

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U.S. Army Drill Instructor Insignia

Chapter I

Snakes

1. History and Myths

According to fossil records, snakes have existed for at least 130 million years. Venomous snakes evolved some 62 million years ago. As a frame of reference, man has only been around for about four million years.

Snakes are cultural icons in art, religion, and folk tales. As early as 15,000 B.C., man was carving the image of snakes into antlers. Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Aborigines, Native Americans, and others attributed to snakes the powers of fertility, long life, and healing. These beliefs were manifested in stories and symbols, some of which have carried over to the modern day. One such example is found in tales regarding the Roman god of medicine, Mercury. Mercury’s symbol of authority was a staff, Caduceus, with two winged serpents entwined around it. This symbol is still used today to represent all medical professions.

America’s first patriotic symbol was the timber rattlesnake. Before the red, white, and blue, and before the bald eagle, there was a flag with a timber rattlesnake bearing a rattle for each colony and the words DON’T TREAD ON ME. Unfortunately, snakes have been vilified as well as deified. In the Garden of Eden, a serpent personified Satan, and his lies led to the downfall of man. Christians forced this belief upon other cultures in their conquests of foreign lands. Of all the anthropomorphic characteristics attributed to snakes, none has been more malicious than that of evil incarnate.

Snakes inhabit all parts of the world, with the exception of Antarctica. Almost every society is exposed to snakes; this is one reason why snake lore pervades human cultures. There are 2,700 species of snakes on earth, and twenty-one species in Pennsylvania. These twenty-one species are comprised of two families and sixteen genera. The two families are the pit vipers (which are venomous) and the colubrids (which are not). There are only three species of pit vipers: the eastern massasauga rattlesnake, which is an endangered species, the timber rattlesnake, which is a candidate species, and the northern copperhead, which is also protected.

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Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake

People are not born with a fear of snakes; that fear is instilled by family and cultural folklore. This folklore breeds myth, and myth breeds ignorance. Ignorance breeds both the fear and contempt, which are responsible for the self-righteous slaughter of serpents by otherwise well-meaning people. The mythology of snakes is voluminous, and after years of picking through fact and fiction, I have come to accept snakes on their own terms. I have also realized a few simple truths: snakes are not angry or mean, they are not nasty or calculating, they are not evil, malicious, or vengeful; their primitive brains are incapable of such things. Their brains are focused on an instinctive level to avoid enemies, find food, and pass on their genes.

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People are not born with a fear of snakes

2. On Being a Snake and Getting Around—Locomotion and Senses

It amazes me that snakes can survive at all. They have no arms or legs, their vision is poor, they have no nose or ears, and for the most part they have tiny teeth. Most nonvenomous species are incapable of harming anything larger than a mouse. A closer inspection of what at first appear to be the handicaps of snakes reveals the marvels of their evolution.

Snakes have two forms of locomotion: lateral undulation and rectilinear creeping. Snakes have between 180 and 400 vertebrae, depending upon the species. Attached to these vertebrae are ribs, and on top of the ribs are muscles.

Lateral undulation is the fluid S-shaped motion that we typically associate with snakes. Undulation is accomplished by flexing the muscles in its back, sending a wave action from the base of the head down the spine. When the first wave contacts an irregularity on the surface of the ground such as grass, leaves, or rocks, it triggers pressure points that send the wave down the spine and to the opposite side of the body until it too contacts an irregularity and sends the wave back. This action keeps flowing throughout the length of its body to be repeated again and again. Each wave action propels the snake forward.

Rectilinear creeping is another name for straight-line travel. The belly scales facilitate this motion. The same muscles that are attached to the ribs are also attached to the belly scales. When the snake needs to maneuver in tight quarters or on an incline, it will contract and relax these muscles in sequence from head to tail. When a muscle is contracted, it flares out the accompanying belly scale. The scale finds purchase on a surface irregularity such as tree bark or rough rock; then the muscle and the scale relax at the same time as the next set of muscles and scales are contracted. This motion allows snakes to climb trees and squeeze into tight places.

Snakes exist and hunt in areas that require great balance such as on trees and rock ledges. This balance is achieved through semi-circular canals located in the head. These canals act like little levels and respond to head movement and to gravitational stresses. There are many other canals located throughout the body. Some aid in balance, while others register sensation and produce pleasure. The canals located on the snout and chin are densely packed with nerve fibers and are very sensitive to external stimuli. For example, the male rubs his chin across the female’s flanks to stimulate reproduction.

Snakes are also aided in their ability to climb trees by the durability and elasticity of their skin. It is the elasticity of the skin that allows it to flatten and expand, permitting passage through tight places and the ingestion of large prey items without breaking. The mechanical properties of the skin vary from species to species but generally fall between those of shark or eel skin and those of mammal skin. When this skin gets damaged, dirty, or outgrown, it is shed for a new one. Shedding is stimulated most by metabolic factors. The more a snake eats, the quicker it grows, and the more it sheds. If it doesn’t eat for a long period and gets thinner, it will also shed. Ten days to three weeks prior to shedding, the snake’s eyes will become cloudy and its coloration will dull. This clouding is created by molting fluid, which fills the space between the old and new skin. During this period snakes become testy and are best left alone.

Snakes also shed their teeth. It is for this reason that no venomous snake could be made safe through defanging. An active snake might shed two or three sets of teeth in a season. Replacement teeth face backwards and lie against the roof of the mouth. As a tooth falls out, the replacement swings down and into position. These teeth come in waves from front to rear in colubrids and from rear to front in pit vipers.

Snakes can’t blink. Unlike lizards, snakes have no eyelids. Large circular scales called spectacles protect their eyes. A snake’s eyes are set to the side of its head, which permits an almost 360-degree field of vision. This wide field of vision enables snakes to detect movements, but they lack a fovea, which is the part of the eye that facilitates definition. The end result is a critter that can detect movement but can’t see well enough to determine what it is.

Also, unlike lizards, snakes have no external ear openings, and therefore can’t hear sounds the way that people can. What they do have is an inner ear, called the columella, which is attached to the lower jawbone. Snakes spend most of their time resting, and they generally rest with their lower jaw either lying directly on the ground or upon their own coiled flanks. Any ground vibrations will travel through the lower jaw to the columella. The columella alerts the brain via the inner ear. Low frequency waves and ground vibrations can also be picked up through the lungs.

Once the brain is alerted, either by vision or by vibrations, the snake usually figures out what the disturbance is by flicking out its tongue. A snake’s tongue is forked, and an active snake is constantly flicking it in and out of his mouth. The tongue is like flypaper, and every time he sticks it out, he collects particles of information from the air. Every time the tongue is withdrawn, the forks are extended into two holes in the roof of the mouth. These holes are portals to a natural minicomputer called the Jacobson’s organ. The sensory lining of this organ absorbs the chemical clues on the tongue and sends them to the brain via a special branch of the olfactory nerve. Using this organ, the snake tastes the air around it, extracts vital information, and then processes the information based on learned and instinctive knowledge.

It is through use of the Jacobson’s organ that the snake is able to find its way from its den to its feeding grounds and back, every year—a distance of several miles for some species. It is also through the use of this organ that the snake distinguishes predators from prey, so it can eat and avoid being eaten. It is through use of this organ that mates can be trailed, identified, and courted. Without this organ, the snake would die. It works like this: everything has a unique make-up, a chemical fingerprint—every creature, as well as every place. Every plot of soil varies from foot to foot; every vernal pond has a quality unique to it. Every animal has a different scent that is species-specific, and it gives off a multitude of other odors, or pheromones, based upon its current state. These chemical fingerprints are like an invisible trail left behind or preceding its maker for a period of time. These are the sensory trails that make up the highways and supermarkets of the snake’s world.

3. Feeding

The snake uses all of its senses to locate its prey; what makes a good meal? There really is no single right answer to that question. The only common denominator is that all snakes are all carnivorous and will never purposely eat plants or plant parts. Their exact diet depends upon several factors such as the snake’s size, its species, available prey, its metabolic rate, and how it subdues its prey. Subduing prey is accomplished by one of three methods: ambush, constriction, or injection with venom.

The ringneck snake is a good example of an ambush hunter. It is a small and slender species that is commonly found in the basements of homes with stone foundations. They lack the musculature to kill anything with an ability to fight back, so their diet consists of worms, slugs, and bugs.

The black rat snake is a constrictor. It is another common house snake, but it may attain a length of up to eight feet, the longest in the state. It is equipped with 150 sharp teeth and the musculature to squeeze its prey to death. It is a relatively slender species with great climbing prowess, which also permits birds and bird eggs to be a part of its diet. A mature black rat snake is capable of killing between 130 and 150 rodents a year; they work better than the Terminix Man and every good farmer knows not to kill them.

The pit vipers are the masters of evolution. They subdue their prey by envenomation and are equipped with heat-sensitive pits to help them identify prey at night. Consequently, with the exception of some juveniles, they only feed upon warm-blooded creatures such as rodents. Although the pit vipers are quite capable of climbing trees, they are an extremely stout lot and prefer to conserve their energy by allowing their prey to pass in front of them while they lay in wait at a fixed location on the ground.

For a snake to digest its food, it needs to maintain a body temperature of at least sixty degrees for an extended period of time. If the snake gets too cold, the food will rot in the stomach, the blood will become septic, and the snake will die. Snakes are cold-blooded and need to regulate their temperature by seeking external heat or by creating their own. The process of temperature control is called thermoregulation. A snake’s primary form of thermoregulation is to alternate between basking sites and shade. Its internal temperatures are affected by the following variables: season, feeding conditions, body size, reproductive activity, and species (the garter snake is so cold-tolerant that it is the only snake found in Alaska). The optimum activity range for most Pennsylvania species is 70 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Lethal ranges are below 35 degrees and above 117 degrees Fahrenheit. It is for this reason that snakes become nocturnal in summer and dormant in winter.

4. Reproduction

When the ambient air temperature falls below sixty degrees for a week or more, snakes head for their dens. In the spring when temperatures exceed that amount for a week or more, they spread out to their hunting grounds. The warm spring air also triggers most snakes to mate. Males begin to search for the pheromone trails of females. Once a mate is found, the courtship commences with tongue flicking. During the flicking process, they exchange pheromones to double-check the gender and species. If the mate is suitable, the female will flee, and the male will pursue her until she stops. The two will undulate, loop bodies, and rub chins until the female coils into a tight ball. The male will bite her repeatedly until she straightens out. He will then bite her neck and hold her in position until she gapes her anal vent and allows him to lock with her. The lengths of this lock are species-dependant and may range from as little as a few minutes to as much as a few days; the longer the lock, the greater the probability that the female will discontinue mating for the season. The eastern garter snake places a muco-protein plug in the female before he goes on to mate with another female. The sexes have little deliberate contact after mating.

Pregnant female snakes are called gravid. Gravid females tend to aggregate at communal basking and egg-laying sites. Most Pennsylvania snake species lay eggs, but all of the venomous species bear live young.

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Snake with egg clutch

When several males descend upon a female, then the right to breed is determined through a competition called the combat dance. The dance begins with two rival males squaring off, snout-to-snout. They then raise their bodies as far off the ground as possible and interlock with one another. When they fall to the ground, the snake that pins the other’s head to the ground for the longest time is the victor. This act is referred to as topping. The only difference between the dance of pit vipers and that of colubrids is that colubrids do not raise their bodies off the ground but rather glide along in a parallel and horizontal fashion.

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Combat dance

5. Sexing and Measuring

Determining a snake’s gender can be frustrating at best and damaging to you or to the snake at worst. The three methods that I am familiar with, listed from least to most intrusive, are tail shape, subcaudal scales, and probing.

It can be possible to make an educated guess at gender by the shape of the tail. Males always have longer tails than females, and their tails usually taper gently to a point. Females will generally round off bluntly at the anal vent and have a tail that is noticeably disproportionate to the rest of her body.

The gender of the timber rattlesnake can also be determined by counting the scales on the tail (subcaudal scales); thirteen to twenty subcaudal scales is usually a female, while males have between twenty and thirty.

The most accurate way to determine gender (and the surest way to get bitten) is an intrusive probe of the tail cavity. Use a commercial probe or make one using a paper clip with a sanded down tip. Apply a lubricant to the tip of the probe insert it into the snake’s anal vent. Gently push the probe towards the tip of the tail. A male cannot be probed without resistance due to the presence of the hemipenis, while a female can be probed for up to a quarter of the length of her tail.

Accurate measurements of a snake’s length are obtained by placing it in a tube or a squeezebox and measuring from the snout to the anal vent (SVL). The tail shouldn’t be included in the measurement because of gender differences and because snakes sometimes lose parts of their tails to predators or accidents and don’t have the power to regenerate new ones like salamanders and some lizards do.

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Ben Dean & Bob Petrocelli sexing and drawing blood samples from a Timber Rattlesnake

6. When, Where, and How to Find Snakes

The best times of the year to find snakes are in May and September. During these months, they are moving from and to their dens or are congregating around the den area. A den can be anything that extends below the frost line and has a range of temperature and humidity suitable for over-wintering. At choice den areas, any number of different species of snakes occupying that range may be found. For the most part, they tend to tolerate each other quite well. During the spring and summer months, they spread out to their particular feeding grounds. Each species has its own niche, so take the time to consult a field guide and learn the habitats of the particular species you want to find before you go out.

When in the woods, let your eyes, ears, and the local wildlife lead you to snakes. All snakes can climb and swim, but when they do, all the critters of the woods and waters are alert to their presence and something will snitch them out. Squirrels will wave their tails and issue loud scolding chirps; birds will issue a hue-and-cry and mob the snake. Frogs will issue distress calls and leap off the banks and into the water or vice versa. Dogs have also been known to detect, trail, and point snakes.

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Ball of rattlers at a den

Finding snakes requires stealth and an eye for details. Snakes don’t want to be seen, much less fiddled with. Keep your eyes trained well in front of you but constantly alert to any unusual shapes, colors, or movements that may appear in your peripheral vision. Wear boots, loose-fitting jeans, and gaiters when maneuvering through knee-high undergrowth such as blueberry bushes. Use a long stick to beat the brush ahead of you in order to allow a hidden snake to announce its presence or to slither out of your way. Several years ago, I ran across an old snake hunter who was way out in the woods by himself. He told me that he had hunted that way all his life and had never been bitten. I asked him his secret to success and he replied, Don’t put your hands, feet, or ass anywhere your eyes haven’t been to first.

Use binoculars or a spotting scope when hunting known snake areas. Snakes are best observed from a distance. That way, you are less likely to make them defensive and will get a truer idea of their normal behaviors.

Although snakes are best observed from a distance, there are times when you will want to catch and handle them. Here are a few pointers that may help ease the stress on both you and the snake. Do not pin its head down with a stick. Snakes have small bones at the base of their skulls that aid in the dislocation of the upper and lower jaw so they can feed. These bones are fragile. Once they are broken, the snake will have great difficulty feeding, if it is ever able to feed again.

Snakes only bite for two reasons: food and fear. Some of the things that trigger a bite response are reaching for a snake’s head, placing your face next to a snake’s face, and squeezing a